HIGH HEAT

Who has been the Mariners’ biggest surprise?

May 27, 2014, 3:12 PM | Updated: Jul 15, 2014, 4:06 pm

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After beginning the season in Tacoma, James Jones has injected life into the top of the Mariners’ order. (AP)

By Gary Hill

The Mariners reached the 50-game mark Monday as they beat the Angels 5-1. The M’s pulled themselves back to even at 25-25 and now sit just two games back in the wild wild-card race despite significant injuries to their rotation. They have also managed to pry themselves into the exclusive positive-run-differential club:

Athletics, +100
Angels, +43
Blue Jays, +28
Tigers, +19
Mariners, +13

The Mariners have been bolstered by several early-season surprises, but who has been the biggest?

Is it Chris Young?

Young was an All-Star for the Padres in 2007 at the age of 28. His 3.12 ERA was fifth best in the National League and it was the third straight year he crossed the 30-start barrier. He only allowed opponents to hit .192, which was best in the majors. Unfortunately for Young, steady stays on the disabled list became commonplace starting in 2008. He was limited to just 60 total MLB starts from the 2008 season until he took the mound for the Mariners for the first time this season.

Young pitched for Triple-A Syracuse last season and compiled a hefty 7.88 ERA in seven starts. He was shut down and underwent surgery to repair what was diagnosed as thoracic outlet syndrome. The Mariners picked him up days before the start of the regular season after it became clear he was not going to crack a stacked Nationals rotation.

Young has helped stabilize a rotation that was depleted by significant injuries. He is 4-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 10 games this season. His 57.1 innings pitched are already more than he has thrown in three of the last four years. The Mariners have also won five of his last seven starts.

Young features the highest fly-ball rate in all of baseball at 56.8 percent, which he has used to his advantage at the spacious Safeco Field. His home ERA is a sparkling 1.65 in four starts.

Is it Roenis Elias?

This time last season, Elias was a handful of starts into his initial journey with Double-A Jackson. He produced an All-Star season in the Southern League, tossing 130 innings in 22 starts. He fanned 121 and finished with a 3.18 ERA and 1.246 WHIP. A year later he is in the big leagues with an ERA that is only half a run higher (3.68) and a WHIP in the same vicinity (1.330). He has not yielded more than four earned runs in any start this season.

The results are even more surprising considering Baseball American did not even include him in its top-30 prospect list. He has vastly outproduced any projections made by various systems in the preseason. Removing Masahiro Tanaka from the equation leaves Elias as the rookie leader in innings pitched (58.2) and starts (10). He is third in ERA and strikeouts.

Is it James Jones?

Jones has ignited the top of the Mariners’ order since his arrival from Triple-A Tacoma. He is hitting .286, has swiped four bags and scored 14 runs in 22 games. He has also managed seven bases on balls while reliably manning center field.

Jones spent all but four games with Jackson a year ago and had a slash line of .275/.347/.419 in 101 games. He snagged 28 bases, but was nailed nine times. He has not been caught in the big leagues.

Baseball America ranked him 27th in the Mariners’ system after the 2013 season. They had him slated for Tacoma this year, but his stay was short. He has already played in more games for the Mariners than he did for the Rainiers this season.

Jones is 21st in the American League in runs scored in May despite not taking over the starting job until the 10th.

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